Senate voted to repeal DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL.

12/18/2010
The U.S. Senate will vote to repeal DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL at 3pm.

The militaries of the world have a variety of responses to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals.

Most Western military forces have now removed policies excluding non-heterosexual individuals (with strict policies on sexual harassment). Of the 26 countries that participate militarily in NATO, more than 22 permit gay people to serve; of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the United Kingdom, France, and Russia permit gay people to serve openly.

Governments that permit homosexuals to serve openly in their military service include Taiwan, Australia, Israel, Argentina, Canada and all countries of the European Union and every original NATO signatory except Turkey.

A study of gays and lesbians in the Canadian military has found that after Canada’s 1992 decision to allow homosexuals to serve openly in its armed forces, military performance did not decline.